#hurt for the right reasons

[theserpens]

Drarry Fic Rec: Part Ten

Arguably the pinnacle of vulnerable angst: Draco and Harry colliding, in sixth year. This is a Set of stories taking place during school, with the boys on opposite sites of a brewing war.

Love Spells by FeelsForBreakfast 1,763 words, E

It doesn’t start with a kiss. Or a punch. Neither of those. It begins with a look, lingered, held.

Obsessive (Compulsive) by @xylodemon 6,643 words, M

Harry dreams in red and white.

On open wounds by asofthaven 16,592 words, M

In which Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy end a war. No, not that one.

_

Denude by Faith Wood 4,172 words, E

What if the Sectumsempra scene had a greater impact on Harry and Draco?

Hurt for the Right Reasons by @lqtraintracks 4,571 words, E

Everything was so cocked up. He just wanted this one thing. He wanted to hurt for the right reasons for once.

'Love Spells', 'Obsessive (Compulsive)' and 'On open wounds' all include a not-quite-love affair between Harry and Draco during the events of the sixth book, with all the mistrust and antagonism such a relationship encapsulates. 'Denude' and 'Hurt for The Right Reasons' are deliciously intimate, hard and smutty one-shots, that are enriched by the canon dilemma.

'Love Spells‘ is just pure poetry. Every sentence is a punch to the gut, which you’ll take with gratitude. The phrase "love is a closed fist" still haunts me. 'Obsessive (Compulsive)’ is also beautiful, but cruel and perfectly encapsulates Harry’s fixation on Draco. His struggle between righteousness and surrender to carnal desire is visceral here. ’On open wounds‘ deals with their mutual inability to leave it (the other) alone. They just keep clawing at each other until it becomes a caress.

'Denude’ has some wonderful bargaining with intimacy. I love how Harry basically considers "having" Draco a struggle between himself and Voldemort, even though their hold on him couldn’t be more different. With 'Hurt for the Right Reasons‘ this Set also includes a story from Draco’s POV. It has lovely abandon, taunts and rough sex, but it leaves you with a hopeful feeling.

[your-turn-to-role]

moment of appreciation again for what is possibly my favourite later game percy quote that everyone always forgets about

(said to vex, of course)

[moonstruckme]

James Potter x Reader where reader is in a different house (Hufflepuff if you don’t mind) and she ends up on the receiving end of one of their pranks which makes her angry so she avoids James and the other marauders, forcing him to grovel/beg for forgiveness? Thank you so much xoxo

Hi, thanks for your request! This got a bit long haha, but I enjoyed writing it and hope you enjoy reading :)

cw: mentions of blood

James Potter x Hufflepuff!reader ♡ 1.8k words

Though no one tells him it’s happening, Remus sees the prank coming from a mile away.

Primarily, this is because James and Sirius appear to be playing an entirely ordinary game of frisbee. Just tossing it back and forth, no hexes or nifflers or anything. A simple pastime between two boys on a lovely warm afternoon. 

Secondly, they haven’t asked Remus to join them. While they know from experience he’s content to read his book in the grass, they always make a point to ask just to be sure Remus doesn’t feel excluded. The fact that they haven’t suggests that they’re well aware that whatever they’re up to, Remus will want no part in it. 

Lastly and most importantly, James Potter has the worst poker face Remus has ever known. 

When the curly-haired boy slyly drops the frisbee they’ve been using into his bag, trading it for another, he can hardly keep the giddiness from his face. Which is probably why, when he tosses it well away from his companion and towards a crowd of gathered students, Sirius is the one who has to say, with theatrical volume and distress, “Merlin, can somebody grab that?”

Remus watches warily as several students turn to track the progress of the disk as it sails overhead, and after a moment one breaks away, chasing after it. Remus feels a pang of sympathy for you, your yellow and black scarf flying behind you as you run, needing no further evidence than the eager look in James’ eyes to know that you’ve fallen for a trap. 

You jump up to grab it out of the air, beaming in triumph for a moment before a yelp escapes you. You flings your catch to the ground, cradling your hand as the fanged frisbee twitches and snarls at your feet. 

“Shit,” he hears Sirius breathe, and the excitement is gone from his and James’ expressions as they jog over to you, Remus standing to follow them. 

You pick your head up as they approach, eyes wet but fierce. 

“What the hell?” you snarl, and Remus realizes with a stab of concern that there’s a small puddle of blood forming in your palm. “You’ve begun targeting your stupid pranks at anyone who’s dumb enough to help you now? How’s that funny?”

Remus looks at his friends in bewilderment, aggrieved on your behalf but unable to believe they’d do something so cruel. The fanged frisbee—a cheap trick, which really should be banned in Remus’ opinion—twitches closer to your ankle, and Sirius flicks his wand at it, its teeth retracting as it goes silent and motionless. 

“We…I charmed it so its teeth would be dull and harmless.” James scrubs a hand through his hair, at a loss. “It was only supposed to scare you, not hurt you.” 

You shake your head at him disbelievingly and bite your lip, face reddening as the pain sets in. James steps closer to you, blocking you from view of the small crowd of gawking students, none of whom, Remus notes with some bitterness, have come to help you or see if you’re okay. 

“I’m really sorry,” James says softly. “Let me help.” But when he reaches for your hand, you step back, holding it close to your chest. 

“Just leave me out of your fun in the future, yeah?” you hiss, stalking inside. 

James looks pained as he watches you go, and though Remus doesn’t begrudge you your justified anger, he feels for his good-natured friend. It had been an honest mistake, though the cost turned out to be far higher than either of his friends had expected. But knowing James, he’ll find some way to make it right. 

“Sorry, mate. They can’t all be winners.” Sirius claps him on the back, and Remus knows his light tone is more to make James feel better than it is true carelessness. Sirius is loyal that way; he’d probably lock you in a broom closet rather than have you upset James again. 

“It wasn’t meant to hurt anyone,” James says quietly.

Sirius’ smile is unfaltering, though Remus spies the worry in his eyes. “She’ll get over it. C’mon, there’s still time to go into Hogsmeade if we hurry.” 

And though Remus hopes you’ll feel better soon, he knows it will take James a long time to get over it himself. 

James shuffles from foot to foot, feeling silly and anxious as he waits for someone to leave the Hufflepuff dorms so he can go inside. He’s fairly sure you’re supposed to have potions together, but you hadn’t shown up to class, and though James had kept an eye out all day in the hallways, he’d never spotted you. He’d thought he’d caught a glimpse of you in the great hall during lunch, but you’d darted out of sight before he could be sure, and then there’d been no sign of you at dinner. Luckily, it had only taken a quick consultation of the map he shared with his friends to find out that you’d holed up in the Hufflepuff common room, so here he was, draped in his invisibility cloak and fidgeting like a nervous date at your front door. 

The door creaks open, and James slips in before it can shut, the exiting Hufflepuff shivering slightly at the breeze he makes whisking by them. It’s not difficult to spot you where you’re sitting painting your nails, lips pursed just slightly in concentration. The common room is mostly empty as other students enjoy the nice weather outside, and James is grateful for the privacy as he takes off the cloak and goes to sit beside your feet where they’re stretched out on the couch. 

You look up at the intrusion and startle to find James, pulling your feet closer to you reflexively. He hopes it’s an instinct to make room for him and not to protect yourself from him, though given recent events he could hardly blame you for the latter. 

“What’re you—how did you get in here?” you ask, eyes darting between James and the door in bafflement. 

Never mind that. “You weren’t at dinner,” James says, holding out his small stolen dish of chicken curry, “so I thought you might be hungry. Sorry, it’s barely warm now.” 

You take it from him suspiciously, careful of your wet nails, and James feels a stab of guilt at the sight of your bandaged hand. 

“I’m really sorry about yesterday,” he goes on, throat burning with shame. “I know I’ve already said it, but it was supposed to be harmless. I wasn’t careful enough.” 

You don’t look at him, not rejecting his apology but not quite accepting it either. “Pomphrey fixed it good as new anyways, so we can just say it never happened.”

James appreciates the attempt to ease his conscience, but your kindness only makes him feel that much more villainous. This would be so simple if you were one of those pureblood gits, or even just a bit ruder, but you’re you, and that’s so much worse. 

“Can I see it?” he asks softly, and you hesitate only a moment before scooting a bit closer and extending your hand to him, palm up. 

James unwraps the bandage with care, keeping one eye on your face to ensure he’s not hurting you, and so he notices the faint blush that colors your cheeks as he cradles your hand in his. The last layer of your dressing falls away, revealing three tiny white scars. Though they’re healed over, he hisses in sympathy, drawing your hand further towards him protectively but forgetting you’re attached to it. 

Your inhale is soft as you lean forward awkwardly, and James huffs a laugh at his enduring idiocy. “Sorry, love,” he says, letting you lean back. He doesn’t let go of your hand, though. “Were they deep?”

You give a one-shouldered shrug, as though it’s nothing to you. James worries you’re putting on a performance of exaggerated blasé for his benefit. “They bled a lot, but a charm sealed them up quickly enough.”

James nods, remembering with sickening clarity the blood that had pooled in your palm and dripped from between your fingers. 

“I’m glad,” James says, and it doesn’t feel like enough. Nothing feels like enough. But he can’t stop himself, even if it’s all inadequate. “I’m really sorry.” 

You sigh, and James knows enough about you to guess that being upset is exhausting you. It isn’t in your nature; you’re someone who always has a kind word for everyone, who he’s seen lend your quill to a student that forgot theirs and offer them an understanding smile when they broke it, who would rather spend all day avoiding James than let him feel the wrath of your grudge. 

Your very warranted grudge, by the way. 

It’s terrible luck that someone as sweet as you was on the receiving end of his mistake. But, as you’d pointed out, that was how the prank was designed, wasn’t it? Though James and Sirius hadn’t thought that part through at the time, the victim was always going to be whoever stepped forward to help. Normally it might not matter, but they’d gotten so caught up in the excitement of trying out their new toy that James had somehow gotten the spell wrong. And as a result, you’d been forced to pay a price for your kindness and his incompetence. 

“It’s okay,” you say.  

“It’s not,” James insists. “And I can’t fix it, but let me do something else. I can do your potions’ homework for the rest of the year, I can give you my dessert every night, I can…I can sneak into Hogsmeade and bring you whatever you want, anytime you ask, I can…what?”

You’re smiling at him, and it’s familiarly lovely but, James can’t help but think, entirely undeserved. 

“I don’t need any favors from you, James,” you say, and he realizes it’s the first time you’ve said his name. It’s not a long name, but somehow your voice gives it a cadence he quite likes. “Just be more careful, okay? I ended up fine, but next time someone might not.” 

“There won’t be a next time,” he promises swiftly, and means it. “But sweetheart—” if he notices how you soften at the endearment, he doesn’t mention it “—you’ve gotta let me make it up to you somehow.”

You sigh again, though it’s lighter this time, seemingly both exasperated and amused by his persistence. After a moment spent within your own head, you ask, “Could you help me study for the potions exam next week?”

“Yes!” James grins eagerly. “Of course. That’s a start. How’s tomorrow after class? I’ll bring study snacks as well, and we can make it a regular thing, if you like.” 

He’d like to make it a regular thing, debt or not. 

You smile. “Tomorrow is perfect. And can I call in another favor right now?”

If James weren’t sitting, he’d buckle at the knees in relief. “Yes. I’m at your service.”

“Can you tell me how you got into the Hufflepuff common room?”

“That,” he says smoothly, “is just one in my arsenal of skills now at your disposal.”

[nevarroes]

[tangledinink]

For the Swanatello fam: what does everyone miss most about Donnie during his lake-induced absences?

for donnie, leo will gladly give every scrap of patience and grace and gentleness he has. he doesn't mind explaining things. he doesn't mind telling his brother the same things over and over. he doesn't mind it when donnie forgets or doesn't understand or needs his help to remember or process things.

but he misses the banter. the back-and-forth. the stupid fights and pranks and 'you said's' and 'i told you so's.' and, perhaps a bit selfishly, he misses when he didn't always feel like he had to be the bigger person for him. he misses when he still had the space to be childish and immature and petty towards his twin, and it wouldn't hurt either of them the way it tends to now.

[ swanatello ]

[bisexualfbiagents]

You of all people should realize that sometimes motivations for behavior can be more complex and mysterious than tracing them back to one single childhood experience.

THE X FILES GIF MEME [2/9] SCENES from Oubliette (3.08)

[mayhemspreadingguy]

[magicalgrimm]

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SIMPLE ART STYLE TEST-

[starry-bi-sky]

more cfau miscellaneous things because Childhood Friends Danny and Jason have my head and heart always and I need to finish rewriting chapter two dammit (and redo the half-finished chapter 4 because its just Not The Vibes). i'm almost through I need to get through the graveyard scene. (i just stubbornly refuse to have it be shorter than the original chapter and thats the little death. that is the mind killer.)

Danny and jason’s ghost forms both smell faintly like burnt flesh and cigarettes. However, Jason has a more smokey smell while Danny’s smells almost,,, electrical? In a sense? Like he just straight up smells like burnt flesh and sulphur while Jason smells like someone put him in a smoker first.

It’s very much an unpleasant smell but Danny finds an odd comfort in it just as much as he finds a comfort in the smell of nicotine.

(Jason post-revival smells burnt flesh once and is immediately offput by the fact that it brings him an instinctive comfort. He doesn’t realize its because it reminds him of Danny, and is uncomfortable by it.)

-

In an au of an au, Danny’s altercation with Rath ends with Rath regaining enough of his sanity to snap out of the grieving state and ends with him breaking down. Instead of being souped and imprisoned, Rath, who is permanently 14, decides to Move On into the unknown. He’s exhausted, heartbroken, and tired.

(Is this influenced heavily by the ParaNorman scene where he talks to Agatha and helps her move on? Yes. But it doesn’t fit with the Original Storyline so im shoving it into an Au of an Au.)

Rath tells Danny that Jason lied to them (which he genuinely believes), and that he’s tired of waiting/looking for him/grieving. Jason is gone. He isn’t coming back, he abandoned them. And he wants his mom and dad, and his sister, and his friends. And he’s ready to join them.

He leads Danny out to Gotham, which other than Amity Park might’ve been the only city left untouched due to Rath’s own mental block on the place. They go out to the park he and Jason used to frequent or up to one of crime alley’s rooftops, and there Rath lies down and goes to sleep. Only to never wake up again, materializing into nothing as his soul moves on.

Before Rath leaves, he forces Danny to promise him that he’ll only wait for Jason for ten years. After that if he doesn’t find him, or if Jason doesn’t show, then Danny has to move on. Whether that be like how Rath does, or if its inly mentally/emotionally, doesn’t matter. He has to move on. Don’t wait for him. Don’t waste his time any more.

(“Oh, and if you find him, kick his ass for me.”)

Danny reluctantly agrees, and Rath lies down. Danny sings to him as he falls asleep.

(Angsty points if the vigilantes including Red Hood caught wind of their presence and were silently watching from the shadows. Rath might know they’re there, but Danny’s too focused on Rath to notice.)

(If only so that Red Hood realizes that this is what happened to Danny, and that Danny is gone before he can make things right. The tragedy, folks. The angst. The initial realization that Danny was Rath, and then also that Danny was dead and has been dead for years, and that before he moved on, he moved on believing that Jason abandoned him.)

(like i said it doesn't fit in the original timeline/storyline hence why its an au of an au and isn't nearly a fleshed out, but i was largely just focusing on the tragedy of Rath moving on and Jason being alive to see it and realize just who Rath is.)

-

Just like how the Lazarus pits shot Jason's twiggy 4'6-5'4 (depending on what you find) feet tall and 86lb ass up like a tree an essentially fixed his malnutrition, the portal did the same thing for Danny.

(granted i forgot about malnutrition and danny's likely stunted growth at first -- his family lived in crime alley and despite both his parents working, I don't think they had enough food all the time. He probably wasn't as badly malnourished as Jason was, but he wasn't healthy either.)

Granted his ghost in its "natural" state (14) is short, and his growth spurts were slow at first, it did result in him reaching his dad's height. There were points where it just happened overnight, like a baby. He went to bed one night 5’6 and woke up the next day 5’10.

Jazz is shorter than him. Although I have't decided if she's even liminal at all (and if she is, it didn't cure everything because she would have also suffered childhood malnutrition, and since in au canon their parents didn't get their hands on physical ectoplasm until after they got to Amity Park. So the exposure is less.)

-

Danny's voice absolutely sounds like canon Dan's. It kinda just dropped one day when he was 16-17 and never went back up. Sam and Tucker sometimes ask him to just talk about anything because they find his voice soothing.

I'm not sure yet how Danny would feel about it at first considering Rath, but I imagine that Rath, when he did speak, would have had a quieter and scratchier/weaker voice considering he's spent the last decade shrieking and crying.

(and i suppose technically that shouldn't have any effect on his throat considering he's a ghost and idk if that would actually affect him, but i like the idea so im keeping it)

In the beginning you could hear him from a mile away by the sound of his loud, echoing wails, but ten years later you can only really hear him by the soft, shuddering sobs he makes. Like he's gasping for air that isn't there. The future is full of very quiet survivors.

And it's much easier to speak when you pitch your voice upwards (especially when whispering/speaking quietly) so he might've spoken in a higher, airy pitch in order to be heard. So Danny might actually find a comfort in having a lower voice.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

oh don’t mind me, just thinking about the contrast between hordak defying his abuser in order to protect entrapta, and catra using her abuser as an excuse to hurt adora in all ways imaginable.

[byfulcrums]

I know everyone likes to make fun of Ezra for believing Maul, but I honestly really liked that, because. Like. He's been working so hard to learn to trust people again. His new-found family is teaching him how to open up and how to let himself love others without being too afraid of losing them to connect

And he doesn't immediatly trust Maul, which shows that even if his trust issues are much better now, he's still not stupid and knows to be careful around strangers, especially if you found them inside a Sith Temple

But. Maul shows and tells him what he wants to see; he acts kind with him, reassures him when he's in doubt, and manipulates Ezra (who is a CHILD) into beliving in him so he could get what he wanted

Then he betrays him, and by blinding Kanan, he proves Ezra's 'little me' right

[solarmorrigan]

A scene I spent too much time thinking about in the Bob Adopts Steve AU [more on this idea here and here]. Takes place during s2, sometime after they all convene at the Byers house, but I know not exactly when because I don't remember the whole timeline

cw: hurt/no comfort

-

Steve refuses to break. Not now, not when the whole night is ahead of them, the problem of the demodogs and the gate and the mindslayer or whatever the fuck the kids keep calling it. He can’t break, not when they need him.

But he does just need to– take a minute.

Take a minute to breathe, to process the information that Bob had been at Hawkins Lab. That Bob had been involved.

That Bob is–

When no one is looking his way, he steps out onto the porch, just for a minute, to get some air.

He sort of expects it to be Nancy who’s followed him out there when he hears the door open behind him (he sort of hopes it’s Nancy; that even if she doesn’t love him, even if she’s angry at him, maybe she still cares enough to at least make sure he’s not self-destructing out here).

He’s surprised when it’s Joyce Byers who sinks down onto the steps next to him.

She doesn’t say anything for a minute, and Steve wonders if he should speak first. He should probably apologize for her loss or something, shouldn’t he? But he can’t get any words to come out; all he can do is clench his fists more tightly in his lap to hide the way his hands are shaking.

Then Joyce speaks; her voice is still husky, like it was when they’d first gotten into the house, like she’d been crying (or screaming), but it’s steadier now. “I didn’t realize that you were the Steve that Bob was always talking about.”

Steve’s head comes up, turning to look over at Joyce. “He talked about me?”

Joyce offers Steve a tiny smile. “So much that I thought maybe he’d somehow gone and had a son without anyone knowing. He eventually had to tell me that he met you when you were helped him out with his yard.”

Shame prickles in Steve’s stomach, and he looks away. “Yeah, and I was helping him out with his yard because I destroyed part of it when I probably shouldn’t have been driving after getting into a fight with… pretty much everyone I knew, actually.”

“He did say you had a little… hiccup, is what he called it,” Joyce says, sounding fond, and not at all as judgmental as Steve thinks she probably has a right to be. “But he also said that you came right over to make amends, and that you’re a good kid. He always sees – saw. He… saw the best in people, always.”

“Even when we didn’t deserve it,” Steve says.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Joyce says. “You deserve to have people see good in you, Steve. It’s there.”

Somehow, that just makes Steve feel worse.

“I yelled at him,” Steve blurts out. “The last time we talked, I… I yelled at him.”

Joyce is quiet, and Steve knocks his fist against his forehead, because she’s just lost her significant other and he’s over here whining about how he said something petty to a guy he has no right to be upset about losing. Fuck, no wonder Nancy had dumped him. No wonder Bob had gotten sick of him.

“What did you yell about?” Joyce asks, pulling Steve from his spiral. She sounds genuinely curious.

“I…” Steve freezes; if Bob hadn’t talked to Joyce about moving away, then he doesn’t want her to find out that he was going to like this. “He said he was going to talk to you about something, Halloween night. Did– did he get around to that?”

“About moving out of Hawkins?” Joyce asks, and Steve nods. “He did. I wasn’t sure what to say at first, but… well, I’m sure you can see why there’d be some appeal.”

Steve lets out a choked laugh. “Yeah. Well, he floated the idea past me first, and I kind of flipped out on him.”

“Why?” Steve chances a glance at Joyce and she’s looking at him with a soft kind of concern. “Did you not like the idea of leaving here?”

“What do I have to do with it?” Steve asks, brows furrowed. “He said that he wanted to get you and Will and Jonathan out. And, like, I don’t blame him, I just– I reacted badly, and I wish–”

“Oh, sweetie,” Joyce breaks in, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. “He didn’t– Didn’t he get to tell you?”

More confused than ever, Steve shakes his head. “Tell me what?”

“He… I mean, he said that he wanted to wait until summer to move, not just because he didn’t think it would be fair to move Will and Jonathan in the middle of the school year, but also because he was hoping…” Joyce trails off for a moment and takes a breath, like what she says next is going to hurt; Steve stops breathing at all. “He wanted to wait until you graduated because he was hoping to convince you to come along.”

“Oh,” Steve says, completely on automatic.

For a moment, the information doesn’t compute. It doesn’t even sink in.

And then it does.

And that’s when Steve breaks.

[vxlinor]

I feel like shadowgasts moved on too quickly from the fact that Dairon implies that the metal the volstrucker stabbed Caleb with was likely given to her by the dynasty-empire double agent they were hunting down (Essek)

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

i like to think that Poppy holds Wally when she's scared/nervous

[harpoonsnotspoons]

Was only going to draw one thing today but Coraline AU Strilondes called to me

[antianakin]

I think part of the reason I have a hard time considering any of the characters in Star Wars "antiheroes" is because I think the real message of Star Wars sort-of goes against the entire CONCEPT of an "antihero." An antihero is generally defined as someone who does "the wrong thing for the right reasons." Or, in other words, someone with heroic and noble intentions but who perhaps uses less noble and heroic methods in order to achieve that ultimate end goal. And while there are absolutely characters in Star Wars who fit that description, the message of the story tells us that there isn't really any such thing as doing "the wrong thing for the right reasons." If you're doing the wrong thing, there is no right reason. There are ONLY wrong reasons for doing the wrong thing.

For example, you could argue that Anakin is an "antihero" because he commits a genocide and throws a galaxy into tyranny and fascism, but he does it to "save Padme from dying." Saving Padme sounds like such a good, heroic goal, even if his methods are obviously horrific and evil. But the message of that whole story is that Anakin isn't really doing this to save Padme. He's doing it to keep himself from having to live with the pain of losing her. He's doing it because he can't accept change. He's doing it because his own fear of that pain is more important to him than anything else, including the lives of innocent children or the wellbeing of an entire galaxy. He's not an antihero according to Star Wars's own messaging, he's just a villain. The moment he decides to murder a bunch of innocent people for his own selfish desires, he chooses to become a villain. There's no middle ground where his slightly sympathetic reasoning puts him into the "antihero" category. He's JUST a villain. Immediately and completely. None of his reasons are right, they're just selfish.

There is no "heroic intention" that outweighs the less than heroic means in Star Wars. There just isn't, because the heroic intention doesn't actually exist. So while many of the characters fall under the traditional definition of an antihero, the actual message of the story (at least if it's written by Lucas or someone who actually cares about his story) doesn't support the idea of an antihero at all.